


Affectionate Assistance

by terunakamura



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Humor, Minor Injuries, post act 2, pre act 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2015-03-04
Packaged: 2018-03-16 06:53:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3478589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terunakamura/pseuds/terunakamura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merrill may not know any healing magic, but she'll still help Hawke as best as she can after a rough day on the Wounded Coast.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Affectionate Assistance

**Author's Note:**

> First Dragon Age fanfiction, despite being in the fandom for more than two years! There's never enough Merrill/F!Hawke so I thought I'd try my hand at it.  
> This story is set somewhere between Act 2 and 3, after Merrill moves in and Leandra passes away. I was inspired by the fact that I can never keep a mage in the party with Fenris unless I wanted arguments the whole way through a quest...

            Hawke pushed open the door to her home with an exhausted sigh. The trip back up to Hightown had taken longer than usual as her ankle throbbed painfully with every movement. She would have taken one of the potions she kept with her if she hadn’t given the last one to Aveline as they left the Wounded Coast. It was too much effort for Hawke to make it to Anders’ clinic as well. As she finally dragged herself into the main room, she heard a voice call out to her.

            “Ma vhenan! There you are!” Merrill came dashing down the stairs with her usual smile. “I was wondering where you had gone! Bodahn said he didn’t know so I- oh Creators, you’re hurt!”

            Merrill was immediately assisting Hawke into a large chair near the fireplace even as the woman protested.

            “I’m fine, Merrill. You don’t have to fuss over me,” she assured her.

            The elf tried to fix Hawke with a stern glare, but all that appeared on her face was a pout. “I’ll fuss over you until you’re better, ma vhenan.”

            Hawke sighed resignedly as Merrill dashed away to grab some healing supplies from their room. She had known this was going to happen as soon as she had caught sight of the large group of slavers on the coast that Fenris had gotten a lead about. Hawke knew better than to bring Anders or Merrill along when she was doing work with Fenris, and that’s how the party had ended up doing battle without a healer or mage in general.

            With a tray carrying a small variety of potions and poultices, bandages and a jug of water, Merrill took her place at Hawke’s side. “Tell me where it hurts most, ma vhenan.” She brandished a roll of bandages at Hawke in a playful manner.

            “It’s nothing too bad honestly-”

            “Ma vhenan. You’ve never been a good liar, you should leave the stories to Varric.” Merrill smiled encouragingly. “Won’t you let me help you? I may not know healing spells, but I can do this much!”

            Hawke couldn’t help but cave. “Alright. I believe I may have injured my right ankle.”

            Merrill immediately moved to pull of Hawke’s boot, and began working diligently to wrap the afflicted limb.

            “Where did you go today, Hawke?” Merrill asked. It wasn’t accusatory at all, merely Merrill’s inquisitive nature.

            “Fenris heard about a slaver operation far down the Wounded Coast. Aveline insisted on coming on behalf of the city guard, and we ran into Isabela on the way,” Hawke answered truthfully.

            “Why couldn’t I come too?” Merrill asked as she finished applying a reasonable amount of a poultice to Hawke’s ankle.

            “Because I brought Fenris with me.”

            “Then why not bring Anders? You could have used a healer clearly….”

            “Because I brought Fenris with me.”

            Merrill giggled. “I suppose there’s logic there… But I would have been able to take anything Fenris said, ma vhenan. I’ve heard worse than anything he’s said from my clan more times than I can count!”

            “I wouldn’t want to subject you to that treatment unless it was absolutely necessary, love.”

            “That’s very thoughtful of you. Oh! But what happened to your ankle?”

            Hawke rubbed the back of her head as if she were embarrassed. “There were about three times the slavers we expected. It wouldn’t have been too bad if they didn’t have Mabari with them. I got distracted by one of them and the dog just rammed itself into my leg! It knocked me right over. Isabela took care of it though, so it could have ended up much worse….”

            “I’ll have to thank Isabela next time we visit the Hanged Man for Wicked Grace.” Merrill finished with the bandages and sat back a bit. “Did you get all of the slavers though?”

            “I’d say Fenris did most of the work, but yes. Aveline’s probably preparing her report about the incident for the guard right now.” Hawke attempted to move her ankle only to wince again, even though she could feel the poultice taking effect.

            “Ah, you might want to drink this as well. Though it tastes like rotten leaves….” Merrill stuck out her tongue at the thought, and passed Hawke a potion. She drank it as quickly as she could and grimaced.

            “Maker, what kind of potion was that?” Hawke coughed a few times as the drink went down.

            “Something Anders dropped off a few weeks ago. Apparently it’s twice as good as the regular ones he makes. I don’t much like it though so I told him to try again.”

            Hawke shook her head with a smile. “It is better than what they serve at the Hanged Man though, I’ll give him that much for his efforts.”

            Merrill nodded and stood up. “Shall I get Bodahn to make us something to eat, ma vhenan? I’m sure you’ll feel better once you have a full stomach.”

            “That would be lovely.” Hawke gingerly began to stand, still being careful to not place too much pressure on her right foot. “I think I’ll take it in our room though. Maker’s breath I’m tired.”

            As she moved towards the stairs, she felt and arm wrap around her back and her arm pulled around Merrill’s shoulder. “Just leave it to me, and we’ll be up these stairs before you can say Dread Wolf- oof!”

            Merrill’s leg collided with the banister at the base of the staircase and Merrill went tumbling forward, dragging Hawke down for the ride. They both landed face down on the stairs, limbs splayed out at awkward angles.

            They were silent for a moment simply looking at each other’s surprised faces, until Hawke suddenly spoke.

            “Dread wolf?”

            Merrill snorted and she began to laugh, at which Hawke joined in wholeheartedly. Their laughter echoed throughout the home, even as Bodahn shook his head from the other room. He set to work on the aforementioned meal, knowing that the pair would forget to ask in the midst of their happy moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Thislittlerunaway for beta reading for me!


End file.
